1 9 7 3 – Current (USA) 9000+ x 30 minute episodes
Lushly produced soap opera featuring a cast of gorgeous, near-naked newcomers who would break into song at the drop of a hat, The Young and the Restless premiered on CBS in 1973 and instantly branded all other soaps old-fashioned.
No social issue was taboo: incest, breast cancer, euthanasia and obesity were all explored, and in only its second season, The Young and the Restless won the Emmy as Outstanding Daytime Drama.
This long-running soap still titillates with its tales about the residents of the (fictional) Mid-Western town of Genoa. The real-life inspiration for show creators, William J Bell and Lee Phillip Bell, was a vacation home at nearby Lake Geneva.
The two original families that were the core focus of the show were the Fosters and the Brooks families. With the exception of Jill Foster Abbott Fenmore and Katherine Chancellor, they were written out early on and replaced with the Abbott and Williams families. Jill is the longest running character on the show and only original.
